Boston Globe article
Cole is hoping to return in two months, and he's not the only guy sitting in his doctor's waiting room: Several other star pitchers have been declared unavailable for Opening Day, if not the season — Lucas Giolito, Kodai Senga, Kevin Gausman, Alek Manoah, Sean Hjelle, Tristan Beck and more. And the accusing fingers are pointing in all directions:
* At baseball front offices that demand more and more velocity;
* At MLB team's analytics departments, which many say are on a destructive quest;
* At the chase for new pitches with new arm angles and insane spin rates, not to mention 100-mph sliders and sinkers;
* At the Six Million Dollar Man attitude toward Tommy John surgery: “Go ahead, blow out your arm, we'll just repair it." The number of pitchers who have had arm surgery before being drafted or signed is exploding;
* At Major League Baseball for rules changes — like the pitch clock and three-batter minimum — that pitchers say have put their arms in jeopardy;
* At parents and youth coaches who see that scouts want velocity and spin rates and are ruining young arms while dreaming that their 8-year-old might one day sign a big-league contract.
* At baseball front offices that demand more and more velocity;
“MLB started a very, very, very big issue … decided that 97 [mph] was way, way, way more valuable than 91,”
Fact: Skenes is Steve Carlotn minus Lefty's 324 W's 5,200 innings 254 CG's 4,100 K's
Top 25 ERA''s 2023 - their Velocity
90 1 86
92 3 88
93 4 89
94 4. 90
95 6 91
96 5 92
97 2. 93
50% 94 and under 5% is 90 and under
50% 95 + 5% is 91+
2023: Top 50 - Velocity 96+
ERA 2023
Under 3.00 8
3.00 - 3.50 14
3.50 - 4.00 9
4.00 - 5.00 13
5.00+ 6
40% ERA 4.00+
56% ERA 3.50+
16% ERA 3.00 under
Velocity Leaders
#4 99 3.76
#5 99 5.27
#7 98 7.18
#8 98 4.82
#13 98 4.14
#14 98 4.75
#17 97 4.35
#19 97 3.76
#20 97 3.86
#21 97 3.90
#22 97 4.07
* At MLB team's analytics departments, which many say are on a destructive quest;
* At the chase for new pitches with new arm angles and insane spin rates, not to mention 100-mph sliders and sinkers;
Spin Rate Analyis
Results: ERA % represented in the Top 30 Lists
Fast Ball - Top 30 50% ERA 4.00+ 30% ERA 4.50+
Curve - Top 30 70% ERA 4.00+ 30% ERA 4.50+
Slider - Top 30 50% ERA 4.00+ 27% ERA 4.50+
Change - Top 30 77% ERA 4.00+ 30% ERA 5.00+
Cutter - Top 30 67% ERA 4.00+ 37% ERA 4.50+
Sweeper - Top 30 80% ERA 4.00+ 47% ERA 4.50+
Curve Ball
7 of Top 10 ERA 4.00+
14 0f Top 20 ERA 4.00 + 9 ERA 4.50+ 3 ERA 6.80+
Sweeper
6 of Top 10 ERA 4.00+ 5 ERA 4.50+
16 of Top 20 ERA 4.00+ 11 ERA 4.50+ 6 5.40 ERA+
* At the Six Million Dollar Man attitude toward Tommy John surgery: “Go ahead, blow out your arm, we'll just repair it." The number of pitchers who have had arm surgery before being drafted or signed is exploding;
Discuss TJ Recovery Rate - from my Analysis
* At Major League Baseball for rules changes — like the pitch clock and three-batter minimum — that pitchers say have put their arms in jeopardy;
“It's up to the owners and it's up to [MLB commissioner] Rob Manfred to protect us, and they're not protecting us at all. The biggest thing that's changed is the pitch clock. I would assume that is probably the biggest cause of the injury wave this spring..
* At the chase for new pitches with new arm angles and insane spin rates, not to mention 100-mph sliders and sinkers;
300 lb. Dead Lift with their arms
While MLB teams want to protect their big investments, one pitcher stated there's also a belief that most pitchers are disposable.
“At the end of the day, we'll keep developing new pitchers, so by the time you're hurt, we'll have a